(_Tetrao urogallus_)
For the greater part of the year capercaillie, the largest
representative of the grouse family, passes its time concealed in the
depths of the forests, where it manages to find sufficient food even in
the most severe winters; and it is only for a short period in spring
that it makes its appearance, during the breeding-season, in the open.
Its home is in the great forests of continental Europe and northern
Asia, more especially those in which fir and pines predominate;
abundant under-wood, which affords a good supply of berries, open
glades, patches of sand, and pure water are, however, essential to the
well-being of this magnificent bird. The capercaillie, or auerhahn
as it is called in Austria and Germany, ranged in former days from
the British Islands to the north-eastern portion of Turkestan, the
Altai Mountains, and Lake Baikal; but by the middle of the seventeenth
century it had already become scarce in Britain, where it became
extinct a century later. In recent years the bird has, however, been
reintroduced into Perthshire, Forfarshire, and a few other Scottish
counties. In the Urals, north-eastern Siberia, and Kamchatka the
typical capercaillie is represented by nearly allied species, or
races. In Scandinavia the auerhahn ranges as far north as latitude
70°, but gradually becomes smaller and scarcer as the pine-woods tend
to disappear; and it is the vast pine-forests of central Germany,
Austria-Hungary, and Poland that form the great centre of its habitat.
Although its large size constitutes a sufficient means of recognising
the cock capercaillie, which measures as much as thirty-five inches in
length, from all other kinds of grouse, the species is distinguishable
from its near relative, the blackcock, by the evenly rounded tail;
while the blackish head and neck, with a patch of bare vermilion skin
above each eye, the pale horn-colour of the beak, the green band
across the breast, and the slaty brown back form other unmistakable
characteristics. The female presents somewhat more resemblance to
an overgrown greyhen (the female of the blackcock), but here again
the rounded tail and superior size constitute decisive points of
difference; while the general colour is more distinctly chestnut.
Additional peculiarities of the hen capercaillie are to be found in the
presence of a rufous patch at the base of the neck, and in the white
tips to the black greater wing-coverts. In length the hen measures
about 10 inches less than her partner; while her weight is only from 5
to 6 lb., against from 13 to 16 or 17 lb. in the cock.
[Illustration]
The food of the cock capercaillie consists principally of the leaves
and young shoots of the Scotch pine; and during the breeding-season
these appear to form its sole nutriment. At other times he also
consumes the leaves of deciduous trees, together with cranberries,
whortleberries, juniper-berries, and grass, and sometimes a few insects
or worms. On the other hand, the hens, which spend much more time on
the ground than the cocks, and the young feed largely upon ants and
other insects, worms, etc.; this being especially the case with the
young birds.
The capercaillie is a polygamous bird, and in the spring--sometimes
while the snow is still thick on the ground--each cock takes up a
position on a tall pine, and commences his nuptial performance or
_spel_, as it is called in Norway. This _spel_ usually lasts from
early dawn to sunrise, and is repeated from sunset till dark; but the
time varies somewhat according to the state of the weather and the
temperature. During this amatory performance the cock stretches out
his neck, raises and spreads out his wings like a fan, ruffles his
feathers, and assumes an appearance which has been compared to that of
an angry turkey. A call, which has been expressed by the words _peller,
peller, peller_, is uttered with continually increasing rapidity, and
concludes with a gulp and an indrawing of the breath, when the bird
throws up his head, closes his eyes, and appears to be in a paroxysm of
passion.
At the sound of the cock’s call all the hens in the neighbourhood rush
to the place, uttering cries somewhat like the croak of a raven; and
when they have assembled on the ground below the cock descends from his
perch to join the party.
In Scotland, capercaillie-shooting takes place from 10th August till
20th December; but in some parts of the Continent, as in Poland, for
instance, the calling-season is the time for this sport, which is so
highly esteemed, that in Hungary and Poland a tablet is fixed in the
shooting-lodges to commemorate the death of each bird.